AlmostArmageddon
by Star Future
Summary: Just when the world seems to be moving on in evolution, a disaster is just waiting to happen, and the only place it could start is on a little submarine known as seaQuest. AN I updated it's been like a year! Go me! Warning: contains child abuse
1. In the Depths

Silence. That was all that could be heard on the bridge of the seaQuest, as it quietly skimmed through the water. All its occupants completely unaware that what was about to befall them was something so incredibly astonishing, that it would be marked in the history books as the "almost-Armageddon." Needless to say the events that were about to take place in the depths of the ocean would be enough to shock anyone, even the brave men and women of the seaQuest.   
  
The night had started out fairly normal, there was little activity and Captain Nathan Bridger, had found little to concern himself with and retired for the night. Commander Jonathan Ford had easily found his way into the chair of command and had taken his private pleasure into account as he asked for a report from the whiskers for about the third time in the past ten minuets.  
  
"All's quiet out there sir..." Miguel Ortiz said and quietly added under his breath, "The same it's been for the past ten minuets..."  
  
Ortiz was abruptly cut off by Ford, "Excuse me Mr. Ortiz did you have something to say?" Miguel shook his head, and bowed it in embarrassment. Tim O'Neil merely shook his own head until something caught his attention over his head set.   
  
"Excuse me Commander, but I think you should have a listen to this." Tim said.  
  
"What is it Lieutenant?" Ford was immediately at attention. The bridge tensed up as Ford put on his own head set and had a listen. What Ford heard couldn't quite be described. It was almost a mix of sounds, so soft that he wasn't sure it was really there. "Lieutenant are you making a recording of this?" Ford barked. Tim nodded his head quickly and Ford shouted across to an ensign, "Wake the Captain and get him up here..." he hesitated, "And get Lucas too, we may need his help."   
  
* * *  
  
Less than ten minuets after Bridger had laid his head down on his pillow than a breathless ensign came pounding at his door. "I knew it was too good to last," he sighed, and got up to answer the door. "Can I help you Ensign Carlson? Or do you just randomly go around waking people up?"  
  
"No sir!" Carlson said, "It's just that...*gasp* that Commander Ford has requested a that you come to the bridge... *gasp* immediately!" Nathan sighed in resignation at the thought of getting no sleep what-so-ever that night. Unfortunately for the Captain things were going to go from bad to worse.   
  
"Very well ensign, I will be there shortly," Bridger replied.  
  
* * *  
  
The entire bridge crew waited impatiently for the captain to return. Lieutenant-Commander Katie Hitchcock, who was awaiting orders at her post had never seen Ford so on edge. Quietly she got up and approached the Commander. "Jonathan, what is wrong?" she asked gently while putting her hand on his shoulder. The reaction she received was not one that she would have expected from her long time friend, a literal slap in the face. Katie brought her hand up to her burning check, and remained speechless, she couldn't understand what had just happened. Ford on the other hand stood stock still, watching Hitchcock as though to dare her to do something   
  
Hitchcock merely stood still in the center of the bridge staring at the Commander. Unbeknownst to either of the two officers all work on the bridge had all but stopped and everyone's attention was riveted to them.   
  
The tenseness was broken by Chief Crocker's shout of "Captain on the Bridge!" Immediately the crew became a buzz with activity. Bridger was completely unaware of what had just happened. But was concerned when he saw Hitchcock stand rigidly next his XO, with a look of contained anger. Suddenly Hitchcock, broke her icy glare and left the bridge as calmly as she could, which was really just a about as calm as a class A hurricane.   
  
"Commander care to share with the rest of us what just happened here?" Nathan asked.  
  
"Sorry Sir, but Commander Hitchcock is momentarily... distracted for a moment, she had an important issue to deal with," Ford said icily. Nathan was shocked he had never heard Ford talk like this about anybody, especially Katie.  
  
"Of course Commander..." Nathan paused, he didn't feel ready to ask what call was so important that it couldn't have waited until whatever emergency had occurred to get him up and out of bed, was finished. "Now what couldn't have waited until morning?"  
  
"Sir, Lieutenant O'Neil found unusual activity in the area, and I thought that it would be wise for you to listen..."   
  
"Of course Commander, O'Neil if you please?" Nathan said, cutting Ford off. Tim sneered and grudgingly activated the recording. Bridger put the head set on and listened to the indescribably sound. He stood there motionless for a very long time, just listening to the hypnotic sound. Suddenly Lucas burst onto the bridge, still struggling into his flannel shirt.  
  
"Sorry Captain I was just-" Lucas began but was cut off with a wave of the hand by Bridger. Lucas stopped confused, he had no idea why the Captain was acting the way he was. "Um sir-" again the Captain waved his hand a little more forcefully. Lucas went from confused to bewildered, granted the Captain had every right to want to listen but he could at least say something, shut up, be quiet, or even a good old common "shh" would have been appreciated. "Captain-" he tried again. This time he did get a reaction out of the Captain, and much like Ford and Hitchcock, this was not the way that Lucas would have thought the Captain would have reacted.   
  
Only instead of a hit, Bridger did something far worse... he ripped the head set off his ears and said in an enraged voice "Shut the hell up you worthless piece of nothing... we don't need you now or ever..." Bridger started to turn purple and the bridge crew was in such shock that had another ship pulled up and fired upon them no one would have done anything. Lucas on the other had almost stopped breathing. He couldn't believe that the one person he trusted more than anyone else was betraying him like this. He thought that he had escaped the destitute of an unloving home, and that perhaps he had finally found someone who he could look to as a father. Now that person, the one that had given him hope, was the one who was smashing his heart... the way his biological father had, only this time it didn't look as though he would have anyone to help pick up the broken pieces. Lucas feared that others would see his pain, and he fled the bridge. Most of the crew merely shook their heads sadly.  
  
* * *  
  
Meanwhile, a dark smile crept onto the face of a very cruel woman. The smile was all that showed though, the rest of her face being hidden in the shadows and behind a mask. None of her colleges had ever seen her face and no one really knew who she was. She was merely referred to as "ma'am." The smile grew wider as she observed, in her vid-screen, a young boy fleeing from a man that apparently cared a lot about him. "Suffer, Wolenczak, suffer," she breathed, "May the pain that I have be with you every day of your miserable life, may no one ever love you again..." she trailed off and slowly brought her hand up to her face and gently removed her mask and leaned forward into the light. The scared and grotesque face of Captain Marilyn Stark grinned as she watched a young boy's life crumble around him.  



	2. Controlling

  
~Signals flashbacks~  
  
Lucas ran, and he kept running, not entirely sure where he was running to and still a little unclear on what he was running from. The one person who was always there as a rock to lean on, a shoulder to cry on, or even an understanding ear, was the same person who was causing the anguish in the young boy. The mind numbing pain going through Lucas' heart was like no pain he had ever felt before. Not the numerous times his frail body had been plummeted by the abusive hands of his father; or the crushing defeat whenever he attempted to reach out to his mother as a person who could help get solid ground under his feet, only to discover quick sand.   
  
'This can't be happening,' was the thought that went around and around in his head. The thought that the Captain would... could do this was blowing his mind. Bridger had always been the one to reassure him that he was valuable... important... worth more than just his brains. 'God... what did I do?' he silently asked. The events came rushing back to him as he ran.   
  
~The new vocorder prototype just wasn't panning out the way Lucas had anticipated. The programming kept reversing itself that alone could have been easily dealt with, but all the programming translated itself into Hungarian. "Tim doesn't even know Hungarian!" Lucas cried out loud. He picked up the prototype and was prepared to fling it across his quarters when his door burst open.~  
  
He rounded another corner, only to run directly into Dr. Westphalen. He didn't even pause after knocking her over.  
  
~"Lucas get your sweet butt to the bridge now!" panted an ensign whom Lucas had seen but never conversed with before. Slightly taken aback by the abruptness the young officer had entered caused Lucas to lose his grip on the vocorder. The prototype fell from his hand to a pile of dirty clothes piled in the middle of his floor, rolled off the clothes to come to a rest in a plate of yesterdays dinner. Either petrified dog food or what passed as pot roast, Lucas tended to lean toward the former.~  
  
The calls of the doctor fell on deaf ears, the moon pool was the only place on the ship where he might be able to get a grip on his reeling emotions.  
  
~"Would you care to share with me as to why I am going to the bridge? Or did the crew just need some amusement?" Lucas sneered, as he bent to pick up the vocorder. Grimacing at the food particles now lodged in the circuitry.~  
  
The moon pool would calm him, and Darwin would understand what he was going through he was just sure of it.   
  
~"There's been this... this..." the poor ensign was at a loss for words, how should he know what the hell they needed the kid for, but his commanding officer gave him an order and by-god he would follow through even if he had to hog tie the adolescent and drag him to the bridge. Voicing this to the computer wiz, got a quick reaction. Lucas didn't like to be threatened. He would have gone without the threat, but now he glowered at the young officer. Lucas dropped the vocorder back on the dinner plate, which landed with an audible *plop*, grabbed his flannel shirt and exited his room.~  
  
One more corner and his destination would be there. One more corner and perhaps he could forget the ache in his chest and the hollowness of his heart.  
  
~Muttering things he would like to do to the ensign Lucas quickly made for the entrance to the bridge, only to run into a very upset and very angry Hitchcock.   
"Hey Katie!" Lucas greeted her, but was mystified as to why she looked right threw him. "Right, been nice talking to you!" he called after her. Shaking his head he entered the bridge to find the Captain with Tim's head set on.~   
  
The doors *whooshed* open, and there his hope waited.  
  
~The Captain yelled at him...~  
  
There bobbing on the surface was his last friend...  
  
~"...you worthless piece of nothing..."~  
  
Lucas stood in the doorway, not sure if even Darwin could help heal this hole in his soul.  
  
~"...we don't need you now or ever..."~  
  
Slowly Lucas entered the room, and as the doors behind him closed he let out a strangled sob and collapsed on the floor.   
  



	3. Saviors

A/N ~ Oh my goodness! I never put a disclaimer on this baby! Nothing is mine (although I do have a Lucas action figure, but he's mine not yours nah nah nah nah). Also its been at least two years since I updated! Um do you guys even remember this story? Sorry about the wait but here's a new chapter. A couple of other quick notes. Thanks to all those who reviewed! It really does help an author to continue on writing. Also this isn't betaed, mainly because I don't have one (hint hint) But please enjoy, this is a short chapter, but hopefully more will come soon!  
  
Darwin swam to the edge of the moon pool. He was completely baffled by how his young human friend was acting. Concerned, Darwin let out a series of clicks that had no way of translating themselves, since the vocorder still lay in Lucas' room. Getting no response from the youth, Darwin slapped his tail hopping to attract some kind of attention. But Lucas merely continued sobbing. Finally Darwin, not one to give up, turned around, flapped his tail splashing the young man sitting there as though his world had been crushed.  
  
Blurry eyed, and slightly damp, Lucas looked up at Darwin. Darwin swam closer to the edge to see what he could for his young friend. Lucas brushed his wild hair back from his eyes, and moved slowly to the edge of the moon pool. Resting his arms and head on the edge he looked Darwin in the eyes.  
  
"Hey Dar. How ya doing buddy?" The dolphin merely looked at him, unable to understand the words without the help of the vocorder, but feeling the boy's pain, clicked a couple times in response. "Sorry buddy, I'm working on the vocorder, but it just is-isn't working o-out," Lucas trailed off as tears once again threatened to overwhelm him.  
  
Lucas took no notice to the doors whooshing open behind him, he merely continued to talk to the being who seemed to care anything about him. Dr. Kristen Westphalen began to approach the troubled young man, when suddenly Lucas began talking to Darwin once again.  
  
"Y-you didn't happen to hear what happened on the bridge did you?" Darwin looked at Lucas with his calm, watery eyes as though to tell him to go on. "I don't think you. erm. you heard the Captain did you?"  
  
Darwin unable to answer merely bobbed at the surface hoping to be of some comfort to the distressed teen. Kristen was more intrigued than ever now, she couldn't figure out what had the boy so upset, but by-god if Nathan had something to do with it she would make sure that he never heard the end of it. As Lucas started talking again, she began to cautiously approach and make her presence known.  
  
"He. um. The Captain said that." Lucas could barely get the words out, "he said th-that I w-w-wasn't worth any.anything," Lucas finished the words in nothing more than a whisper. But the anguish in his voice was apparent. However he didn't say the words softly enough that Kristen's sharp ears didn't pick up on it. She stopped dead in her tracks. To think that Nathan could say something like that to Lucas was obscene! Nathan knew little of the boy's past, but he knew that he had a hard time loving or trusting anyone. It had taken forever to break down the boy's barriers, and even then his love and trust had been a vulnerable thing. Kristen was aghast, but she steamed the rage that was coursing through her veins right now, Lucas needed her and she would not leave him alone to suffer.  
  
Gently she laid a hand on Lucas' shoulder. He nearly jumped out of his skin at the human contact. Cautiously, like a rabbit cornered by hounds, Lucas turned around. Seeing the doctor, Lucas only had to look in her eyes to know that she had heard what he had said to Darwin. He didn't know what to do, but as the doctor knelt beside him, he buried his head in her shoulder and cried out bits of his heart.  
  
Kristen felt her heart break at the child weeping on her shoulder. He wasn't the boy genius right now; he was a child who had everything that he believed in thrown away. Whispering words of comfort to him, She thought of what kind of evil medical exam she could put the Captain through. But she knew that would have to wait. She had something more important to do right now. Help a poor lost boy find his heart again. 


End file.
